The Taiwan High Court on Thursday ruled against political commentators Chiu Yi (邱毅) and Lin Ruey-tou (林瑞圖) in a libel suit from 2012, saying that the men made groundless accusations and ordered them to pay compensation to the victim.
The High Court’s Kaohsiung branch reversed a district court decision against former Kaohsiung City Environmental Protection Bureau head Lee Mu-sheng (李穆生), who was seeking NT$25 million (US$794,155) in damages from Chiu and Lin.
The court ordered Chiu and Lin to pay NT$150,000 each in compensation.
The case was launched in relation to a separate case over alleged corruption by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Executive Yuan secretary-general Lin Yi-shih (林益世).
Lin Yi-shih was found guilty of corruption and other related charges in a ruling by the High Court in February, and was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison, and was ordered to pay a NT$15.8 million fine.
The ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court and the case is pending.
During the investigation into Lin Yi-shih, it was said that Lee, as head of the bureau, was involved in underhanded deals.
Appearing on a political TV show in 2012, former KMT legislator Chiu and Taipei City Councilor Lin Ruey-tou accused Lee of soliciting and receiving NT$300,000 in bribes for helping the Kaohsiung-based Ti Yung Co (地勇選礦公司) secure a slag treatment contract from state-owned China Steel Corp’s subsidiary.
Lee filed a libel suit, saying that Chiu and Lin Ruey-tou had not verified the information, and they had defamed him and damaged his reputation.
During the trial, Chiu said he researched the information and knew prosecutors were about to launch an investigation into the case, adding that his remarks were in the public interest and therefore he had done nothing wrong.
Lin Ruey-tou said he received tip-offs from members of the public who wished to remain anonymous, and that he had contacts in prosecutors’ offices to inform him of impending investigations, and that his conversations with the sources were protected under the Constitution’s freedom of speech clause.
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